Barbershop Talk: Peer pressure and 'beef' and how it spirals into violence

INDIANAPOLIS — The "Barbershop Talk" series, which brings together Indianapolis youth to talk about their challenges and how crime impacts them, is back for the summer.

"A beef that started from a lie. It's just a created lie," Antonio Patton, organizer of Barbershop Talk said.

During this month's "Barbershop Talk," Indy youth had a chance to dive into peer pressure and grudges and how they can spiral into violence.

"I'll never turn down a chance to learn something," Javon Fry, a 16-year-old who attended said.

Tuesday, more than a dozen teenagers filled Hair Above on East 52nd Street. Many pointed to social media as the root of disagreements among their peers.

"Beef is so indirect nowadays. It's based around social media," Fry said.

"Nine times out of 10, you don't know who said it. I know all these little Instagram pages. No one knows who posted it," a teenager participating in the conversation said.

"I may feel this way. He might feel that way. At the end of the day, they are still going to feel how they want to feel," another teen participating said.

The youth who attended argued that times are different now and sometimes what one may post on social media leads to poor decisions in real life.

"Its curiosity, animosity, ignorance, all of that is poison to the youth," Fry said.

Most of those who attended expressed being strong individually to look beyond peer pressure and disagreements.

"You can't teach nobody who doesn't want to learn," Fry said.

Tuesday night, Patton encouraged the youth to rise above, set the example, and be the game-changer among their peers.

"If you could just teach one and then that one teaches another, that can hit the whole campus," said Patton.

The "Barbershop Talk" series has received a lot of attention. Various school districts have invited Patton to bring these conversations directly to their students.

Wednesday, Patton will meet with students at Renaissance School in Warren Township.

If you want to join Patton or send your teenager to join the conversation, here's the schedule for the rest of the month of May.

Organizer Antonio Patton